


an iron will crumbles

by EggYolk



Category: Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Character Study, Drama, Eventual Romance, Gen, Humor, M/M, Memories, POV Uchiha Sasuke, Romance, Sarcastic Sasuke, Slow Burn, Team Feels, Uchiha Sasuke-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-03 22:49:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14006532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EggYolk/pseuds/EggYolk
Summary: Abdominal trauma can’t be solved with spirit, otherwise Naruto would be on the road to recovery. (When Sasuke tries to stab Naruto outside of Orochimaru's base, Sai isn't there to prevent it. It goes from there.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is something I wrote on a whim at 1AM. It's not quite crack, but probably more OOC than my sleep-deprived self thinks it is. I'll update it if anyone likes it, but I honestly just posted this to get some Naruto tension out. 
> 
> Disclaimer: Nothing has been fact checked, I'm not a medical-nin (and neither is Sasuke), and this fic hasn't been beta'd. 
> 
> An Iron Will Crumbles continues from Naruto Shippuden Episode 52, but diverges completely from there.

Sasuke knows better than anyone that when Naruto’s quiet, the world’s about to tip upside down. Those rare moments where solitude isn’t welcome are when he’s wary of the quiet above all. Naruto has always ridden the globe like it’s a theme-park ride, but the tallest, scariest one. The shock value is never different:

Incline, _fine_.

Teetering top, _fine_.

Way down, _fucking disastrous_.

The lack of sick-bags doesn’t soften the ride, nor does it do any wonders for the adrenaline pumping through his system as he unsheathes his chokuto. He rolls the blade through his fingers, watching as it crackles lightning like it’s done in countless battles before. His chakra, dark and bursting, fills the sword as Naruto looks at the formidable duo, unimpressed.

He has to resist the urge to tut. “Think any harder and your brain will fry.”

Naruto breaks free of the quiet clouding him, but he’s sad with an emotion he can’t place. Is it pity, he has to wonder, and destiny shakes her head at the obliviousness. _The Uchiha isn’t a lost cause yet._ “Let’s hope Kusanagi doesn’t short-circuit before you do. I’ve been waiting years to fight you again, but not like this.”

“I’m not giving you the free pass to decide, dobe.”

“I realised,” he says through gritted teeth, “when your shitty excuse of a team took Sai and Sakura-chan hostage.” He picks his words delicately, _well_ , with as much tact as Naruto can scramble, side-stepping over the fact that it was  _Sasuke_ who told Juugo to swipe him away using transformed claws and  _Sasuke_ who told Suigetsu to act as a decoy while Karin took her from behind.

“How the fuck can you not see a lost cause when it’s pointing a sword at your throat?” He actually does tut this time, because it’s exasperating dealing with someone who never gives up, even when a ransom note scribbled in Suigetsu’s childish sprawl is on its way to the Godaime. He doesn’t wait for an answer: hearing the ‘friend’ drivel will only tire him out. Already wounded -- _sensory nerve damage,_ he’s sure, _because the pain from his wounds is numb_ \-- he can’t risk anything.

Sasuke’s eyes are enveloped in red. He blinks, blood comes away from his tear ducts, and when he opens his eyes he’s in front of a towering gate. It’s a prison cell, with elongating bars trapping a bubbling orange beast under an intricately patterned seal. He has never felt power of this calibre. It’s, at worst, demonic and, at best, something he can take advantage of. He doesn’t consider the possibility that Kurama might be thinking the same. _Naive boy,_ destiny thinks, _Is he really Indra’s reincarnation?_

“Who knew you’d have something like this inside of you.” It's more of a statement than a question and the word ‘monster’ goes by unspoken, like a slither of wind caught in Naruto’s ears. His eyes are wide, always so easy to read. Unlike Sasuke, his emotions are plastered on his face, in those eyes for all to see: allies know they have a friend behind that carefree grin and enemies know when to flee if his eyes blaze red, but Sasuke never runs. Not since Konoha.

“How’d you get in here?” He asks, shock in the waver to his raspy voice. Naruto either doesn’t know about the lengths the Sharingan can reach or underestimates it -- underestimates _him_.

“The loathsome Sharingan never fails to annoy me.” A grumble which sounds distinctively like a voice says, and the beast opens its eyes. “That sinister chakra is unmistakable. You stink of Uchiha.”

He has to agree, because his isn’t like Naruto’s: expansive reserves though they are, blazing and loud enough to give away his power -- just _how_ far has the idiot come since the Valley of the End? Sasuke’s chakra is the opposite: his speaks of history, telling of the Uchiha’s battle prowess through its ragged chakra signature. It’s tightly refined, wrapped around him like an extra layer of skin and poised to attack, never defend. With him, it’s always the offensive -- he can’t afford to save room for mercy. He’ll chop down his enemies before they get close enough.

 _"Demon Fox,"_ he thinks, but the words escape before he can clamp down his mouth.

“You know of me,” the beast mocks, rising as if to show off the height difference, “I am indeed the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox who lurks within this brat, seeing all he does and even all he doesn’t.”

Sasuke pauses, because there’s a disguise to that comment only he would get. Flashes of his past invade his Sharingan -- the tilt of his chin lowering over his rival, the bullet rain pounding against his head as memories of a team not Hebi crowd his already cramped mind. There’s no room for Sakura’s homemade bentos or Naruto’s whining amid the detailed fratricide plots he’d think up during nights in the Uchiha compound, silent except when Naruto came over.

Kakashi, who passed his best jutsu onto him.

Sakura, who he needed to protect.

Naruto, who forced his way into Sasuke’s home and heart, a force present even after he left Konoha behind. Naruto, who tainted his blinding chakra into his skin, encoded like an algorithm he can’t hope to shake off. Naruto, whose smile conquered his dreams (even the wet ones).

Team 7, who are no more.

The Demon Fox is trying to control the situation, knowing it’s at a disadvantage in Sasuke’s red-eyed world, reminding him of a team he won't claim as his own. He burns inwardly at the realisation that it saw _everything_ , even after Naruto had passed out that day.

His chakra flares. It’s brief, a fleeting glare of purple, but Naruto notices. “I don’t know what you mean, and I don’t care to know.” He raises his hand to the cage, bubbles unfurling around his fingers as the Demon Fox’s energy spills onto the prison floor. It bursts into nothing, leaving a rumbling voice instructing him not to kill its host. Sasuke will _regret it_ , apparently. He hasn’t known regrets for a long time now.

“What did you just _do_ _?”_   He doesn’t know where to look, Sasuke’s smirk or the bubbles left over from the kyuubi.

“Suppressed its power.” He says, leaving out the fact that he had aimed to kill. “Now that the source of your hidden power is paralysed, we fight fairly. Or as fair of a shot as you’ll get against me.” By the time he blinks, they’re back outside of the base. His eyes are strained from overuse of the Sharingan, but he can make out the shape of Naruto, who rises to look around. It’s empty, save for his old rival.

“Sasuke,” Naruto breathes.

“Enough talk.” He drawls, but Kusanagi travels faster than words. Naruto doesn’t have time to deflect, the blade connecting with his stomach and leaving as quickly as it enters. Sasuke spent years under the tutelage of a snake whose preferred method of discipline is torture, but nothing prepares him for the nauseousness when a slither of jumpsuit is stuck to his chokuto. Naruto splutters, the blood spouting after his saliva like a fountain. He clutches at his stomach, his visible torso shining under the sun behind gleams of scarlet.

Destiny doesn’t know what to make of it.

“You. . . You were supposed to dodge!” Sasuke says accusingly, in spite of the irony, pointing his words at him like a blade, but been there, done that.

“Don’t underestimate me, teme,” The croaked words are half-baked but there’s nothing half-assed about the emotion behind them, or the grin. Always the grin. He’d hide behind it as Sasuke camouflaged his pain with scowls, but Naruto’s pain was obvious. At least, to him. “As if I’d die without getting my friends back.”

“You won’t get anyone back if you keep wasting your chakra like that.” Kusanagi pierces deeply, and for a sickening second he is impressed at his handiwork, but he pushes the thought back to whichever abyss it came from.

Naruto's still smiling. It's a shame abdominal trauma can’t be solved with spirit, otherwise he'd be on the road to recovery.

 _‘_ _Think,’_ Sasuke commands himself, _‘What did those stolen medical documents say about treating stab wounds?’_ This is how he ends up pressing against the wound, channelling his own chakra into someone he swore to forget. He’s weak for still caring, he knows, but he can’t bring himself to disrupt the energy flowing from him to Naruto. _‘Why didn’t he dodge and save us both the trouble,’_ he thinks, but a lost piece of his conscience argues back: _Why did you stab him to begin with?_

 _Because I’m an avenger_ is the argument he comes up with, but it sounds like something a child would say. He has said it to himself so many times that it's almost lost meaning, so he settles for _because I thought the idiot would dodge_. Sasuke grabs gauze, a lengthy stack for extra measure, and wraps layers around the wound. They’re supplies from a ninja kit, some Konoha heirloom judging from the distinct seals which take a minute to break through. The gauze stops the bleeding, but it’s not a cure. He has long since gone unconscious, and Sasuke, leaning over him like he did years ago, is reminded of the valley. Except it’s not child’s play anymore, the boy he tries not to love is dying, and Naruto’s stunted chakra flow and irregular breathing don't leave room for vengeance.

If there’s one thing he’s thankful for, it’s that the Demon Fox isn’t around to witness this.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I decided to continue this, because it doesn't feel right leaving it off where I did. Please tell me what you think about the chapter(s) & story as a whole! Your support means a lot; I don't think I would've wrote a second chapter if not for the lovely commentators. 
> 
> Chapter Summary -- Dark! Sasuke's inner conflict with Light! Sasuke. Spoiler: The darkness wins, but light haunts him.
> 
> EDIT -- Revised edition (because I totally didn't post Chapter 2 without reading it properly).

Sasuke doesn't have the luxury of calling it a downward spiral, because it happens in an instant. His brain, dulled by exhaustion and pain medication, can't keep up with just how fast he has plummeted from rogue-ninja to medical-nin status. If he makes it out alive, it might make for a funny story. Except there isn't actually anything funny about this situation: he's swept up in a political landslide for kidnapping three of the Hidden Leaf's cash cows and mailing aggravated ransom notes, his injuries are trying to speed up his expiration date, and Naruto is reeling just to stay conscious half the time, but he can barely manage that.

He grimaces, thinking of how far his Bingo Book rating will fall if anyone finds out.  _If Hebi could see him now._

Sasuke is used to hiding under the Sharingan, but the world still looks funny behind a dojutsu. Reality gets caught inside a high definition web -- faster Sasuke, faster  _everything_ \-- but he feels like he's getting tangled up in something which shouldn't exist. Cursed bloodline indeed.

Genjutsu is even worse.

In Naruto’s subconscious, it’s almost like submerging himself into a different reality altogether -- a damp, dark place which doesn’t belong to someone who can ignite fires in hearts and connect a village smeared in bloodshed.

 _'Who am I to talk about bloodshed?’_ He scoffs, thinking of bodies fizzing with lightning chakra fall but not rise, of the trackers who slide through shadows but never make it past those red eyes, and even of the bounty hunters looking for a prize worth their lives in ryo. Sasuke has slain more than a few of those.

He adjusts himself, imparting a few quick seals into the cave-walls using mud and blood from carcasses left over. The sloppy kanji is something his old Academy teachers would be horrified by, not to mention fuinjutsu specialists, but it's about all Sasuke can muster in critical condition. He finds that he pines for Karin, but not in a way she ever wanted him to -- he craves her vast chakra reserve, an instant fix to the avalanche they're buried under, but he knows going back means answering unwanted questions. Truthfully, Sasuke doesn't trust her not to stop Naruto's chakra flow permanently, and he'd never leave injured, dying Naruto in the care of Orochimaru. There's paranoia to him as well, and although he knows it's unlikely, Sasuke can't help but think a salvo of Konoha-nin attacks are waiting for them outside the cave's opening.

He's suspicious enough to use what's left of the Sharingan, chakra depletion  _and all_ , to scout for shinobi presence besides the fleeting flicker near him.  

 _Nothing._ Sasuke sighs, but doesn't let his muscles slack.

The seal is actually something Kakashi told him about. He'd rent Konoha Library books on seals, practising the one his old sensei hinted might be useful. Fusing fuinjutsu and barrier ninjutsu, you can erect a block of wood from the ground to shut out Sakura's confessions and Naruto's Hokage spiel. Of course, it has only ever led to more spiel -- Sasuke quickly learnt that the barrier isn't soundproof. He almost smiles at the memory, but stops his mouth from twitching upward like a reflex.

The barrier is useful when he's travelling, he supposes, but it isn't exactly the subtlest ninja technique. He could hope for an idiot to come across the cave who will think it caved in, but he learnt long ago that you can't rely on hopes. So for extra measure, he uses the inkling of energy he has left to suppress his and Naruto's chakra. Itachi would've criticised his technique's weak perceptive force, but it’s more than enough for now. All anyone should see is a dingy cave, unless a sensor ninja turns up, which Sasuke doubts.  _'Especially skilled ones,'_   he thinks with a sneer.

Naruto’s chakra is dull, not the raging bonfire usual of his Demon Fox but more like a stilted flame. Sasuke can feel his own life-force ebbing away, chakra signature becoming fainter by the hour because Sakura packs punches he’d never  _dream_ her capable of three years ago, and even though he rations the gauze between him and Naruto, he somehow finds himself with less bandages. Right now, they're about as powerful as ordinary villagers.

It won’t take his brother’s power to hide them.

Kage are after his head, the Konoha Council are willing to kill to get his kekkei genkai's secrets, and yet here he is, nursing Naruto's wounds. Destiny must be laughing at him, because it's only the headache and compulsion to faint which stops him from bursting into cynical mirth.

"I forget how dark your eyes are when you're not doing that freaky eye thing."

Sasuke stirs, half stuck in sleep despite sunlight creeping through a hole in the barrier.  _Weak point_ , but he'll overlook it for now because it's been two days and Naruto is finally awake. Just knowing is enough for him to sigh with relief, but the jagged tone taken on from dehydration probably makes him sound irritated.  _Good_. He doesn't need any misunderstandings between them.

Naruto leans against a knit of rocks, his face stark-pale in comparison to the jutting black behind him. He's stronger than before, but his injury hasn't healed yet. His blonde hair is bleached even lighter by the strands of sunlight filtering through the cave. Sasuke doesn't think it's possible for someone to be this bright. He pinches his hand, knowing that isn't how you escape a genjutsu anyway.

"After kidnapping me, the least you can do is reply, asshole."

"I was about to," Sasuke snaps, "But my energy is low, and we don't all have demonic fox chakra in our stomachs waiting to heal us."

"Why save me? You stabbed me, didn't you, Sasuke? Why not break our bond once and for all, no questions asked?"

_Naruto doesn't waste any time._

"I need someone to hold hostage when the Godaime comes calling, don't I, dobe?"

"I guess," he says slowly, deliberating on the answer disappointingly. It's funny how quickly they fall into old habits, but Naruto, surprisingly, doesn't insult him back. He wonders if he has matured, but remembers this is the same boy who refers to an age-old revered kekkei genkai as a 'freaky eye thing'. Even  _Sasuke_ has more tact than him. "So you ditched the Kusagakure Hideout?"

"Mm," he nods, "Karin, Suigetsu, and Juugo are still there. Your friends, too."

"Then we’re leaving." Naruto says instantly, moving to leap up, but the stomach wound catches up to him and he lurches over from the pain.

"You can't go anywhere with a wound like that. It took mine and the Demon Fox's chakra just to keep you alive, but you'll be dead when half of that energy refuses to travel with you and the other half spends more time trying to possess you than protect."

He curses under his breath, muttering, "Anything else I need to know?"

"We're also out of gauze."

"Wow."

He can tell he has more questions. Sasuke won’t answer any until he’s healed, and even then the accuracy of his replies can't be guaranteed. The silence which follows is awkward, but he knows a storm is building up inside Naruto, so he decides it's better to subdue rather than entertain him. "It's been two days without notice. Konoha has probably sent a search party for your team by now."

Naruto looks up at this, his eyes widening at the same pace as his smile. "You actually remembered." 

Sasuke raises an eyebrow.

"Rule Twenty-Two of the Shinobi Handbook: if a team of nin under legal age is not back forty-eight hours past the expected arrival date from a mission, a village is obligated to send a search party. The only reason I even remember is because Sakura-chan recited that rule to us whenever I poked a dangerous looking seal."

"I don't recall," He says pointedly, but memories rise of cliff-faces crashing down and Iwa-nin surrounding them, Naruto looking sheepishly back and forth from Sakura, who promises to rain hell down on him once they escape, to Sasuke, who tuts as his eyes swirl into the Sharingan, to Kakashi-sensei, who looks like he regrets not staying in the ANBU after all.

Naruto shrugs, like he doesn't expect him to. A lot has happened since their genin days -- it's only natural to forget the small things about Team 7 (except he doesn't).

An itch rises up Sasuke's body. He instinctively moves his fingers to scratch before he realises it's. . . inward? The incessant itch under his skin is his  _chakra_ , biting at him for letting himself go so long without fighting someone. The Uchiha chakra signature is used to being tended to, battles feeding and refining his purple stretch of energy, but he can't feed it trapped behind a barrier with no enemies. Only Naruto. It's the worst possible breeding ground for his chakra. He ignores the fact that he doesn't think of Naruto as an enemy, telling himself it's because he isn't powerful enough to consider a foe. That has to be the reason Sasuke let him live.

The stinging sensation ripples under his bandages until it’s too much to take, so he gets up, pockets a small scroll illustrating Kusagakure, and releases the barrier protecting them. "I'm going out for supplies."

"But we have food pills here--"

He can't ignore the itch, so he'll have to settle for ignoring Naruto. He signs with his fingers, a few shaky gestures which raise the towering wood back over their hideout before Naruto can follow.  _He should be safe there_ , he can manage an hour alone. He has Sakura's food pills in his supply kit. If he can handle her cooking, the world might as well bow to him, because Naruto Uzumaki has cheated death more than once.

Sasuke knows it isn't right to leave an injured man alone, but if he doesn't replenish his chakra they'll die before enemies even reach the cave. Academy lessons on morals are still burned into his brain, shitty commandments his conscience spits at him whenever a body which doesn't belong to him falls. He knows killing isn't right,  _has_ known since the shadow left of his nii-san took his clan away, but knowing has never stopped him before.

The genin in him is a surprisingly resilient force. He claims he  _must_ heal Naruto, even if he isn't sure why his body moves on its own. The rogue he is scoffs, but doesn't argue.

 _You'll regret it if you don't,_ the Demon Fox's rumbling bubbles into his ears, and he hates that damned fox for manipulating him, but hates it even more for being good at it.

He slides through the cover of gnarled-over trees, his face hidden under a hood, the darkened eyes burning over with lust. If he senses a tracker, bounty hunter, or even Konoha-nin, Sasuke's going to assume destiny called.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Serious chapter is serious. Try not to hate Sasuke for his bloodlust. If you're wondering what exactly the itch under his skin is, it'll be revealed in future chapters, as will the storm that's coming.
> 
> Chapter Summary -- Sasuke is the shit, but also the shittiest.
> 
> Please make sure to leave kudos and comment if you enjoyed!

Sasuke glides through the coarse wasteland that is Kusagakure, flashes of white and purple among the green of the forest and blue of the riverbed. He pulls a dark hood over his face -- not to avoid detection, but the sun. Direct light will only cause more harm than good. He’s known Naruto for years, so understands firsthand.

He can't stare too long at the surroundings, which plume to dizzying heights even when he doesn't feel off balance. Sasuke can't afford to use the Sharingan, either, but judging from his shadower's chakra signature, he won't need to. Faint and unrefined, something common of ordinary civilians. It's barely one cigarette's worth of smoke, but there's something. . . off about it. Killing intent swarms the vicinity and it isn't just coming from him. His shadower doesn't seem strong enough to give off such an aura, but his gut instinct screams that it's all a lie. Can chakra presence be _too_ vague? Sasuke almost doesn't want to know the answer.

Of course, destiny reveals all anyway.

A shuriken grazes a tree next to where he stops, chakra exhaustion getting the better of him, in a clearing centre of the forest. It swipes a branch clean off, and Sasuke gets giddy with excitement thinking of how easily it could've been his finger.

"Your aim is off," he points out to the dark-haired woman who lands onto the ground. Sasuke waits for the twigs to crunch, but hears nothing. She's silent, unlike bounty-hunters, with their impeding footsteps and trackers, whose chakra gives it all away. _'Like an assassin,'_ he thinks, and everything makes sense. "Who hired you?"

"Does it matter? You're the Bingo Book's prize bounty. My contractor is just one of many men looking to end the Uchiha bloodline."

"He should've hired someone more efficient with shuriken," As an afterthought, because worry is still clambering up his gut, he declares, "It won't even take the Sharingan."

 _'Naive ochimusha,'_ he thinks but does not say, because she should already know how their battle will play out.

The assassin smirks, but it isn't one of scorn. It isn't the one usual of his typical enemies, who curse him to the grave in their delirious final moments. Hers is self-assured and confident and Sasuke finds it annoying when that expression is on anyone but his face.

She doesn't seem to realise she is no more than feed to prey on. An offering, if you will.

He'll just have to teach her, and if a lesson comes at the price of inscribing his name into her rotting carcass, so be it.

The lower half of her face is covered by a mask, hiding all but eyes which belong to the Hyuga. She strips free of the leather shirt binding her chest, revealing black seal characters reaching as far as her arms and just beyond her abdomen.

The calligraphy of the seals puts Sasuke's cave ones to shame.

He is shocked at the sheer _number_ of them, engraved into her body like a painting. She mutters in a language he doesn't recognise -- not Hidden Grass Village native, maybe from a village up north, where their accents are cast strong like hammered hot iron. The kanji flutters away with her words, leaving her body the brown canvas it must've been before she took this job. As soon as the seals disappear, the forest is flooded with chakra, emitting from every node in her body like a raging beacon of light.

"So this is the extent of your power," He realises. "I was wondering why I was being shadowed by a villager, but those seals were suppressing the true extent of your chakra. Impressive."

"The seals took hours to draw on my body, and even longer to cultivate. All so I could conceal my chakra signature while tracking you, if only temporarily. I hope you understand the lengths my contractor is willing to go to just to see your corpse."

"I understand that he'll be disappointed when he sees yours." It isn't even big-shot talk, because Sasuke assures her he will back his words up with action.

He palms a kunai left over from Naruto's supply kit, flinging it experimentally as his Sharingan whirls into life. Activating it will cost his body greatly, which won't be ideal against an assassin, but only one thing is on his mind: _protect him._ So he sharpens his dojutsu, noting how, as she dodges, her leg spasms slightly. Hamstring injury? She hides it well, but it's a weakness he can exploit.

"I thought you weren't going to use your Sharingan."

He ignores her, his red eyes back to black. He expended at least one-eighth of his chakra in 0.24 seconds, but he doesn't have time to conjure up medical statistics because she is already on the move.

She comes straight for him, flickers, and then she is gone.

Sasuke looks up instinctively, because experience tells him assassins kill from unexpected places, and attacking from behind is overdone.

The assassin _is_ behind him and moves like she's about to kill, but turns direction at the last millisecond. She runs up a beech tree, hopping over branches while throwing shuriken one after another.

One catches the bark of the tree he dives behind and slices it clean through. The star latches onto his cape, causing a great tear in the fabric -- but not as great as the crash when the tree topples over.

He's about to question what the fuck is powering those shuriken, but notices blue energy drip onto the beech tree. _Chakra-enhanced shuriken._ They will injure if he isn't careful.

Sasuke takes his cape off, deserting it on the woodland floor and revealing the chokuto strapped to his waist.

Her eyes narrow. He knows she won't take her eyes off the blade now, but that's what he wants. She starts moving again as soon as the beech tree is down, rapidly leaping from one spot to the next. It's an assassin technique, one to confuse. Sasuke can't keep up with her speed, at least, without kekkei genkai, and all he can see are hints of blue chakra fading after her shadow.

She is careful to keep out of stabbing range, and he doesn't blame her. His notoriety isn't unheard of. Ask Konoha.

"You aren't what I expected." Assassins are known for deception, so if this is some kind of underhanded trick to defeat him, it won't work. Sasuke knows them all. "When my contractor went to all this trouble, I expected someone stronger, but it looks like just one thing is pushing you forward. You move like a ninja, but how long has it been since you killed?"

 _'Too long,'_ Sasuke doesn't reply, but his thoughts translate seamlessly from rogue to assassin.

She nods, understanding what he doesn't himself, but it doesn't stop her from unsheathing a lengthy silver katana. The hilt is worn down, distinct thumbprints indented from years of use. Sasuke can tell it's cared for.

"Are we doing this with kenjutsu?" He asks, emotionless.

"Kenjutsu is your field of expertise, isn’t it? Killer though I may be, it eases my conscience if I give my targets a dying chance."

Sasuke shrugs, "It's your downfall."

He draws Kusanagi, slowly and deliberately.

The assassin charges, leaving no room for any more words. She dips under a branch and swerves behind a tree before emerging from a completely different one -- _incorporating the Body Flicker Technique now, of all times_ \-- and rushes Sasuke, aiming for his shoulder. He ducks under the katana, parrying with Kusanagi in a single motion which sets the two blades screeching. They struggle like this -- _for a second, maybe,_ Sasuke isn't sure without the Sharingan -- before she jumps back and flickers away yet again.

He's getting tired of seeing the same trick.

She's back, and this time she really does attack from above. Sasuke barely has time to react when her katana makes contact with his shoulder, crushing his shoulder-blade. The blow spreads pain from his shoulder to his wrists, but it isn't a killing shot -- she used her katana's hilt rather than the blade, so there must be another objective.

Sasuke shakes his hand, but doesn't feel any itch from his palms. The chakra has stopped flowing to his left hand.

 _'So that's your goal.'_ He grits his teeth to keep from swearing because of the pain. The assassin's aim was to stunt the chakra flow in his left arm, the one he uses for Chidori. The tenketsu in his entire arm is disabled. He can't perform hand seals anymore because of one hit to the scapula.

Byakugan wielders really are something.

It's no use, he'll have to switch arms, but being ambidextrous comes in handy. Literally. She doesn't know this, it’s clear in the _tch_ sound she inadvertently makes when he swaps hands. Sasuke wraps his right hand around Kusanagi -- the blade doesn't exactly feel wrong there, although it certainly isn't right.

He's at a disadvantage, he's running on adrenaline alone, and the itch under his skin is fucking  _infuriating_ , so why has he never felt better? Sasuke is sure the only thing keeping him from passing out is hormones, but he can't dwell on that now because that assassin is _already_ back, sidestepping his attacks and offering her own.

Less than a minute into the fight, the chakra pathway in his arm has fused out, he’s fighting chakra exhaustion on top of that, and he's beginning to build up a striking collection of battle-wounds. With a start, Sasuke realises something: that sly woman was planning to settle this with kenjutsu all along.

 _He's good with a sword,_ destiny observes, _But the assassin is a kenjutsu master. What can even the Sage's son do with so little chakra?_

Sasuke parries well, but it's about all he can do against the onslaught of katana attacks which won't stop coming. He watches her legs, trying to find an opportunity to do some damage to her teared tendons, but she covers herself well, attacking with slick moves while covering her blind spots.

Byakugan activated, she abandons her katana on the floor so her hands are free, poised in the Hyuga style. She wants to disrupt the chakra flow in his right arm, too.

This is his chance.

He expends three-eighths of chakra preparing the fizzling streak of lightning in his palm. An itch which isn't the Uchiha chakra signature forces him to pay heed to it, and Kakashi's disapproving face interrupts his killing-spree: _Only use Chidori to protect, never avenge._

_'That's what I'm doing, old man, so get out of my head.'_

She picks up her weapon in a healthy reaction time, but he's already shouting, " _Raiton: Chidori!_ "

Chidori fuses with Kusanagi, chokuto crosses katana, and one is left standing while the other falls.

She does not rise. Sasuke can sense her heartbeat slowing from here. Electricity courses through her veins but isn't enough to kill, because the power imparted into his attack is sparing, so he stabs Kusanagi into her injured thigh for extra measure.

Lightning left over from Chidori causes her to dip back into consciousness with a singular, harrowing scream.

Sasuke twists his blade deeper until she has no more to say.

Newfound energy runs through his chakra system. The pathway in his left arm is blown out, but the itch is gone and he's smirking, laughing, even, because he hasn't felt so _alive_ in days. Watching her die is good for his heart.

He turns her wilting body over with the outsole of his sandal, edging away in shock when he recognises the familiar leaf symbol mounting her katana. " _Konoha_ \-- just who is your contractor?"

The assassin doesn't reply, and for a second he thinks she is already dead, but she laughs, like the delirious do when Sasuke lives up to his promise to kill. "You're a dead man, so I suppose it doesn't matter if I tell you: Danzo of the Hidden Leaf."


End file.
